Outsourcing on the NBN Co cost-cutting table: Report

NBN Co boss, Bill Morrow, has said that he would consider the option of outsourcing call centres and back office jobs to low-cost locations in a bid to cut back on costs for the company, according to a report.

NBN Co chief executive, Bill Morrow, has said that the prospect of outsourcing call centres and back office jobs in a bid to cut costs would not be ruled out for the company, according to a report published in the Sydney Morning Herald.

In it, Morrow said that, although it was not his intention to send jobs overseas or to outsource more roles, he was not opposed to outsourcing some services.

"Who knows, it may come about and I'm not opposed to using outsourced entities if they can do it better than what we can do ourselves," Morrow told the SMH.

Morrow indicated that he had a long list of operational reviews that he would go through over a number of weeks to determine if there are areas where the company can be more efficient.

When he was chief executive at Vodafone, Morrow was a major backer of measures taken to cut back office costs, which significantly improved the telco's profits.

Morrow's comments on potential cost-cutting measures come as NBN Co considers plans to build and launch a third satellite for rural and regional areas — a move that would substantially increase the costs of its satellite project.

According to a report by the Australian Financial Review, sources close to NBN Co indicate that the company expects to release a review this month into the wireless and satellite elements of its AU$41 billion infrastructure project.

It is expected to recommend further consideration of a new satellite to be built and launched in the next decade, in addition to the two satellites already under construction, according to the AFR.

In February, NBN Co announced that Optus had been selected to operate its two satellites, currently under construction in the United States, for 15 years. The AU$620 million Ka-band satellites are scheduled to be launched next year on the back of two 777-tonne rockets by French company Arianespace.

The aim of the two satellites is to provide broadband services to approximately 200,000 premises across the Australian mainland, as well as Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Macquarie Island, and the Cocos Islands.

Last month, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced an AU$18.4m deal to expand capacity on the NBN interim satellite service, after capping out the amount of customers that could be supported.